Cavaliers confirm place atop ACC by defeating Duke

Saturday

Jan 27, 2018 at 8:45 PM

Adam Smith Times-News @adam_smithTN

DURHAM — More encouraged by his team’s performance during the course of the second half than discouraged by the end result, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Saturday afternoon’s high-level experience will serve the Blue Devils well.

“Obviously, if you win, it serves you better,” he added.

Second-ranked Virginia proved abler in the biggest moments, defeating fourth-ranked Duke 65-63 in this Atlantic Coast Conference basketball showdown of contrasting styles at Cameron Indoor Stadium, to stay unbeaten in the league and snap an extended drought in this old building.

With the game tied entering the final five minutes and Krzyzewski asking for an ironman effort from Duke’s starters, who didn’t sub out while playing the entirety of the second half, Virginia delivered the decisive plays, affirming, for the time being at least, its first-place status atop the conference.

Trevon Duval came up on the wrong end of the most pivotal of the concluding sequences. The Blue Devils trailed 60-58 and had gained possession after Duval, the point guard, rebounded a missed 3-pointer by the Cavaliers (20-1 overall, 9-0 ACC).

From the backcourt, Duval then forced a long pass ahead that was intended for teammate Wendell Carter Jr. on the run, but intercepted instead by Virginia’s Ty Jerome with about one minute remaining.

“I seen it for a split second. He was open,” Duval said. “As soon as it was on my fingertips, ‘Damn, I shouldn’t have thrown that pass,’ because they all get back on defense right away. So that pass really didn’t have a chance.”

That steal was converted into a dagger 3-pointer drilled by Jerome, from straight on and deep at the top of the zone defense that Duke (18-3, 6-3) turned to during the second half. Jerome faked a pass toward the wing and Duval reacted, a move that allowed plenty of room for Jerome to set his feet and load up the launch.

Virginia led 63-58 with 36.7 seconds remaining. The Cavaliers were on the way to their first victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995 and their first defeat of Duke here with Krzyzewski on the Blue Devils’ bench since 1993.

“A very confident guy,” Duke guard Grayson Allen said of Jerome’s clutch stuff. “We saw on film, he makes huge plays for them. He does that often. So you really can’t be surprised by it and you can’t be surprised when it goes in either, because good players make big shots like that.”

Kyle Guy’s 17 points topped four players in double digits for Virginia, which also got 14 points and eight rebounds from Devon Hall, 13 points and seven assists from Jerome and 12 points off the bench from De’Andre Hunter.

Guy sank a pair of free throws for a four-point lead with 6.1 seconds left, effectively clinching the victory after Marvin Bagley III rained in a long 3-pointer that pulled Duke within 63-61.

Bagley poured in 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Carter contributed 14 points and 15 rebounds for Duke, which dropped out of second place in the league.

Bagley, Allen and Gary Trent Jr. never exited the Blue Devils’ lineup, logging a full 40 minutes on the court. Duval and Carter played 37 minutes apiece, after reserves Javin DeLaurier and Alex O’Connell were used sparingly in the first half.

“I’m sure that fatigue was not a factor,” Krzyzewski said, noting the fitness of his starters, that O’Connell was recovering from the flu and that DeLaurier had a tightening hamstring. “We’re in really good shape.”

The measured pace that Virginia affects with its deliberate offense and suffocating defense that rates as the stingiest in the nation was on display during the first half, as the Cavaliers built a 12-point lead.

Duke, the country’s highest-scoring team, trailed 32-22 at halftime, its lowest output in any half this season. Virginia’s lead reached its largest at 35-22 when Hall connected on a 3 to start the second half.

“We came out like we didn’t want to lose,” Duval said of Duke’s response from there. “Playing with that sense of urgency, it sharpened us up. We made sharper plays.”

Bagley, the star freshman forward, supplied 20 points in the second half on an assortment of stretchy, bouncy moves, fueling the Blue Devils’ rally. His jumper with 12½ minutes remaining put Duke ahead 41-39, its first lead since the score was 6-5 in the game’s opening minutes.

Duke led 51-48 with less than 7½ minutes left. Later, Bagley’s relentless work on the offensive glass produced a reversing put-back that showcased his 6-foot-11 length, tying the score at 53-53 with less than 5½ minutes remaining.

Bagley was responsible for eight of Duke’s final nine field goals. The other one of those was credited to Allen on a goaltending call against Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite.

“I thought we played well enough to win in the second half,” Krzyzewski said. “We put ourselves in a position to win, but we couldn’t close it out. They made a couple of big plays down the stretch and we didn’t make them.”

Hunter’s attacking drive lifted Virginia ahead to stay at 55-53. Guy buried a corner 3 on his third shot of a possession the Cavaliers kept alive with offensive rebounding. That put Virginia in front 60-55 with the clock ticking toward three minutes left.

Bagley spun toward the baseline away from a Virginia double team and dunked over a falling Isaiah Wilkins to bring Duke within 60-58 with 1:34 left.